French industrialist and senator Serge Dassault, the billionaire manufacturer of fighter jets, was in custody Wednesday for alleged vote-buying in his former fiefdom south of Paris.

The 88-year-old is suspected of buying votes in Corbeil-Essonnes, where he was mayor from 1995 to 2009.

Dassault is ranked by Forbes magazine as the fourth richest man in France and the 69th richest in the world, with an estimated fortune of 13 billion euros ($18 billion).

French judges suspect him of operating an extensive system of vote-buying which influenced the outcome of three mayoral elections in the Paris-area suburb of Corbeil in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Those votes were won either by Dassault or his successor and associate Jean-Pierre Bechter.

Formal charges against Dassault now look inevitable, experts say.

Allegations of bribing immigrants

Bechter has already been charged, as has Cristela de Oliveira, a former official in the mayor’s office suspected of giving council flats to families in exchange for supporting Dassault or Bechter.

Dassault heads the Dassault Group, which owns the country’s main conservative daily newspaper, Le Figaro, and holds a majority stake in Dassault Aviation, which makes business and military aircraft (including the Rafale fighter jet).

A member of former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party, Dassault admits using his vast personal wealth to help residents of Corbeil, but denies any payouts were made in return for votes.

But at least two men who claim to have been paid by Dassault to help organise the alleged vote buying have described an efficient electoral machine which targeted poorer families from immigrant backgrounds.

In return for casting their ballots for Dassault or Bechter, residents were promised help with paying for driving lessons and finding subsidised housing.

In addition to vote-buying, Dassault could be charged with money laundering and misuse of public assets. Those charges are serious enough to warrant prison time.

In 1998, Dassault received a two-year suspended prison sentence in Belgium for bribing members of the country’s Socialist Party in order to secure an army helicopter contract in what became known as the “Agusta scandal”.

Would be interesting to see them design an ARH seeker in MMW radar frequencies for older missiles to create fire and forget weapons as a surprise from older equipped armed forces.

AFAIK the Russians still have a lot of OSA systems in service and a few missiles with ARH seekers would greatly increase performance without hugely increasing the cost. Brimstone and radar Hellfire already use small active radar MMW radar seekers in a mass produced relatively cheap form so it would not be that expensive and would raise the performance of some old systems by adding a few fire and forget models to each vehicle.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

I still think, India should cancel Rafale deal and order around 200+ Mig-35s. My only concern is how good of an Strike-fighter Mig-35 would be. Looking at its designation (35), it looks to be more of a dogfighter than an aircraft fit for CAS role.

The model of the Mig-35 shown last year at the Indian air show had a Mig-35 with 2,000 litre fuel tanks on its inner wings, which suggests payloads heavier than KAB-1500s could be carried.

That suggests to me that all the Club missiles (land attack, anti ship subsonic and supersonic and the anti sub torpedo delivery missiles) should be compatible.

All the brand new weapons developed for the PAK FA will also likely be compatible except the really heavy stuff.

With modern precision weapons big heavy weapons are now needed for only very specific roles, so fuel tanks, a couple of guided missiles or bombs and 4-6 AAMs should be enough for any strike aircraft.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

Indian Flanker wrote:I still think, India should cancel Rafale deal and order around 200+ Mig-35s. My only concern is how good of an Strike-fighter Mig-35 would be. Looking at its designation (35), it looks to be more of a dogfighter than an aircraft fit for CAS role.

I feel differently.

I think India needs to order neither, bite the economic pill and accept falling fighter numbers, put anything saved (and allowed for by budget) into getting Tejas Mk2 out faster, as well as FGFA.

That or increase % of GDP spent on the mil, but it doesn't look like that will be a popular option.

Indian Flanker wrote:I still think, India should cancel Rafale deal and order around 200+ Mig-35s. My only concern is how good of an Strike-fighter Mig-35 would be. Looking at its designation (35), it looks to be more of a dogfighter than an aircraft fit for CAS role.

Not to mention it doesnt cost like a large fighter while at it. Also, Brahmos and other goodies are already in mind when Mig-35 is made while you still have to negotiate with Rafale.

GarryB wrote:The model of the Mig-35 shown last year at the Indian air show had a Mig-35 with 2,000 litre fuel tanks on its inner wings, which suggests payloads heavier than KAB-1500s could be carried.

That suggests to me that all the Club missiles (land attack, anti ship subsonic and supersonic and the anti sub torpedo delivery missiles) should be compatible.

All the brand new weapons developed for the PAK FA will also likely be compatible except the really heavy stuff.

With modern precision weapons big heavy weapons are now needed for only very specific roles, so fuel tanks, a couple of guided missiles or bombs and 4-6 AAMs should be enough for any strike aircraft.

Thanks Garry for this informative reply

So, it means that Mig-35 can be used properly as a strike aircraft when the time demands.

One question, how does it fare against Rafale as a swing-role fighter? Can you compare all attributes(BVR, WVR, strike: CAS, SEAD, DEAD, bombing etc) of both these planes?

Of course Mig-35 is much cheaper than the uber expensive Rafale. So that's an advantage. But does being cheaper makes it better than the much hyped Dassault Rafale(weighing them based upon IAF's criteria), is the real question?

Indian Flanker wrote:I still think, India should cancel Rafale deal and order around 200+ Mig-35s. My only concern is how good of an Strike-fighter Mig-35 would be. Looking at its designation (35), it looks to be more of a dogfighter than an aircraft fit for CAS role.

Not to mention it doesnt cost like a large fighter while at it. Also, Brahmos and other goodies are already in mind when Mig-35 is made while you still have to negotiate with Rafale.

But a lot of our people think that Rafale has got the ultimate weapon aka Meteor, so who cares about home made weapon compatibility

Indian Flanker wrote:I still think, India should cancel Rafale deal and order around 200+ Mig-35s. My only concern is how good of an Strike-fighter Mig-35 would be. Looking at its designation (35), it looks to be more of a dogfighter than an aircraft fit for CAS role.

I feel differently.

I think India needs to order neither, bite the economic pill and accept falling fighter numbers, put anything saved (and allowed for by budget) into getting Tejas Mk2 out faster, as well as FGFA.

That or increase % of GDP spent on the mil, but it doesn't look like that will be a popular option.

I like your blatant honesty

And finally after all the delays, our Tejas project is now well on its track. Even Indian government has said that they will make 14 squadrons of Tejas in due course(your line of thought). But the only issue is we still have to import engines from the all-mighty USA, no Kaveri yet

FGFA project is also on track. Only sticking point at the moment is price negotiation with Russia. That is causing the delay in signing of the final R&D contract.

But anyway, Tejas is LCA, FGFA(Su-50??) will be HCA. We would need some MCAs as well. That's where an aircraft like Rafale/Mig-35 perfectly fits in and fills the gap.

One question, how does it fare against Rafale as a swing-role fighter? Can you compare all attributes(BVR, WVR, strike: CAS, SEAD, DEAD, bombing etc) of both these planes?

Hard to say... in terms of WVR and BVr air to air combat Rafale has Meteor but then the new AAMs being developed for the PAK FA will likely negate any advantage that might have bestowed on the Rafale... for instance the RVV-BD is a bog heavy missile but exceeds the practical range performance envelope of Meteor by a very large margin.

the same can be said for air to ground weapons with the full range of air to ground weapons available to the Mig-35 with the exception of the FOABs... and the Kh-32.

The Rafale seems to have a very good radar but the radar in the Mig isn't junk either, and the EO suite of the Mig-35 seems to be very impressive too.

the avionics in the Mig-35 is likely to be the first stage 5th gen systems they will be working on for the new light 5th gen fighter which means future growth potential for the Mig onto a stealthy platform in the near future.

Both could form the basis of a carrier based aircraft... though the rafale seems to require cats.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

A cyber attack on Russian communication systems by anonymous hackers on early Saturday morning has compromised India's defence dealings with Russia and raised serious concerns about a possible major security breach.

Believed to have been carried out by an international group of anonymous hackers in retaliation to the last week's Russian invasion of Ukraine, the attack was detected by Indian technical intelligence agencies at about 4am on Saturday.

Most of the leaked documents relate to India's dealings with Russia for the purchase, overhaul and repair of front-line fighter aircraft like the Sukhoi-30 MKI and the MiG-29.

They include correspondence between Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which makes the SU-30 and MiG-29 among other aircraft, and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which manufactures the aircraft under license in India.

The offices of the defence ministry and national security advisor were alerted after the breach was detected, said an official familiar with the development.

However, Bangalore-based HAL spokesperson Gopal Sutar told HT he couldn't comment because they had not been informed till Saturday evening. Sutar, however, confirmed that some of the documents mentioned by HT to him seemed authentic.

Several letters written by UAC president M Pogosyan to HAL chairman RK Tyagi refer to a host of issues discussed during the 31st session of Indo-Russian Subgroup on Aviation (IRSA) held in New Delhi on February 20 this year. The IRSA is a sub-group of the Indo-Russian Inter Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation.

Some of these letters discuss the delays in finalising a contract between UAC and HAL for the RD-33 MK engines, which power the MiG-29 fighter aircraft.

In one of the leaked communications, Pogosyan writes to Tyagi that the "reason for the delay in delivery documentation" is due to "too much time" being spent on discussing "the formula escalation."

Obviously, this indicates that there are delays in the MiG-29 up gradation programme that is being negotiated between Russia and India. There is also a discussion on the AL-31 FP engines which power the SU-30 MKI and are particularly made for the Indian variant of the fighter aircraft.

Pogosyan writes that he "agree(s) this project causes great concern."

There is also a great deal of discussion in setting up Repair and Over Haul (ROH) facilities for the SU-30 MKI, which has been delayed due to indecision on the deputation of Russian specialists. Pogosyan admits that the delays are due to the disagreements between Russia and India on the "financial aspect of reimbursement rates for 2014".

However, he assures Tyagi that he is ready to continue with their commitments for the continuous overhaul of the SU-30 MKIs until the problem is resolved.

The other documents that have been leaked are details of visa applications for Russian specialists to India and Indian engineers from HAL travelling to Moscow. One of the documents has also been signed by Group Captain Ashutosh Lal, air attaché with the embassy of India in Ukraine on December 12, 2013.

Most of the other documents are Letters of Credit (LoC) that have been issued by the Avionics Division of HAL to their Russian counterparts so that critical orders can be processed. Some of these LoCs are to the tune of $ 1.6 million. Indian security experts are examining the leaked data to gauge the extent of the breach since most of this communication is considered secret.

Hardly damaging... it is not like both were conspiring to spy on the whole world or whatever...

nor is it exposing any illegal activity.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

Indian Air Force is really adament on procuring Rafale. So, now I don't think IAF is going to order Mig-35 under any condition(even if a new regime comes to power).

On the contrary the Mig-29K of the navy absolutely look gorgeous and fabulous. And apparently Indian Navy is happy with this aircraft. Who knows they may order Mig-35 in future instead of naval Rafale version that is planned!

FirstPost wrote:India is expected to sign a deal with Russia to procure 66,000 Mango anti-tank shells to meet the shortfall of critical ammunition faced by its armoured fleet including the latest T-90 tanks. The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently cleared the proposal to acquire 66,000 tank shells from Russia and the deal in this regard is expected to be inked in next few days, defence ministry sources told PTI.

Under the deal, Russia will also do transfer of technology on the production techniques of the specialised tank ammunition to the Ordnance Factory Board, which will produce it indigenously, they said. Faced with shortage of weapon systems, the defence ministry has decided to form JVs with the Russian manufacturers to produce them in India like the rockets for the Smerch multi-barrel rocket launcher systems. The severe shortage of tank ammunition was first highlighted by former Army Chief General VK Singh in a top secret letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March this year which later found its way to the media. Gen Singh had pointed out in his letter that only three to four days of this particular ammunition was left in the inventory of the armoured regiments.

Later on, the Army had also informed the Standing Committee on Defence about the shortage and how the situation had worsened by the recent blacklisting of its supplier Israeli Military Industry (IMI).

SOC wrote:Are they buying the FLANKERs outright, or is this an addition to the license contract for Nasik?

The technology to manufacture Super Sukhois ( nose-mounted AESA-based MMR & wing-mounted L-band AWESA T/R modules, plus an uprated AL-31FP turbofan with 20% more thrust than what is available now , underbelly-launched BrahMos-1 among others )do not exist in Nashik so they will have to come from Russia. This is the first order for Super Sukhois . A 100 more Super Sukhois will be purchased in tranches . As of now it is expected that the remaining 100 will be manufactured in Nashik.

What I've read is that out of the 42 flankers, 18 are to be made in Irkut and other remaining at Nasik.

And these are not Super Sukhois, they are just normally upgraded Flankers (with better NO11M Bars performance etc.).

I don't think we'll see any Super Sukhoi until the AESA technolgy on T-50 completely matures.(don't think HAL will go for Mig-35's AESA version).

New Delhi: India has signed a deal worth over 2,600 crore with Russia to procure 66,000 anti-tank shells to meet the shortfall of critical ammunition faced by its armoured fleet including the latest T-90 tanks.The two sides signed the deal on 27 March for the supply of anti-tank shells to the Army and agreement in this regard was inked by defence ministry officials from India and Rosoboronexport officials from the Russia side, defence ministry officials said.The cabinet committee on security headed by the Prime Minister had recently cleared the proposal to acquire Mango 66,000 tank shells from Russia, they said.

Under the deal, Russia will also undertake transfer of technology on the production techniques of the specialized tank ammunition to the Ordnance Factory Board, which will produce it indigenously, they said.

Faced with shortage of weapon systems, the defence ministry has decided to form JVs with the Russian manufacturers to produce them in India like the rockets for the Smerch multi-barrel rocket launcher systems.The severe shortage of tank ammunition was first highlighted by former Army chief Gen V.K. Singh in a top secret letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March this year which later found its way to the media.Gen Singh had noted in his letter that only three to four days of this particular ammunition was left in the inventory of the armoured regiments. Later on, the Army had also informed the standing committee on defence about the shortage and how the situation had worsened by the recent blacklisting of its supplier Israeli Military Industry (IMI).

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16, /ITAR-TASS/. India’s Air Force will get 40 SU-30MKI strike fighters armed with a smaller version of BrahMos missiles, Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace President Sivathanu Pillai told ARMS-TASS at the international arms exhibition DSA-2014 in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, April 16.

The company is working to reduce the weight of the missile so that it could be integrated with different platforms, including the fifth-generation fighter India is creating together with Russia, he said.

Pillai noted that the commissioning of the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier complete with deck-based MiG-29K/KUB jet fighters required accelerated work to arm them with a smaller version of the BrahMos missile so that the aircraft could take off from the carrier with two missiles under their wings.

While the fifth-generation jet fighter and MiG-29K/KUB aircraft can be armed with two BrahMos-M missiles, the Su-30MKI strike fighters can carry three such missiles. The latter aircraft will be modernised to take and fire the missiles. The Indian Air Force has already made the relevant decision.

Pillai hopes that the first ship-based version of the BrahMos missile will be fired in the fourth quarter of this year from a SU-30MKI jet fighter.

The missile will be 6 metres long and have a diameter of 0.5 metres. It will be able to travel at a speed 3.5 times the sound velocity and carry a charge of 200 to 300 kg over a maximum distance of up to 290 km. The BrahMos missiles that have been tested up to date are two-stage cruise missiles 10 meters long and 0.7 metres in diameter.

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test fired from the Indian Navy's newest guided missile frigate INS Tarkash off the coast of Goa in late May 2013.The missile performed high-level “C” manoeuvre at pre-determined flight path and successfully hit the target. The surface-to-surface missile, having a range of 290-km, was test launched from the Russian-built Project 1135.6 class warship.

BrahMos cruise missiles have been adopted by India’s Army and the Navy's surface ships. The Indian Air Force has also ordered a batch of land-based missiles. Work is also underway to adapt the missile to Su-30MKI planes used by the Indian Air Force.

BrahMos is an acronym of the two rivers: Brahmaputra in India and Moskva in Russia.When visiting the headquarters of the Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace Limited that makes supersonic cruise missiles, the chief of the Russian Army General Staff said that the joint venture made reliable missiles that have few matches in the world.

The joint venture has designed a new version of the supersonic cruise missile of the same name that can be launched from submarines.The missiles are intended for use aboard the Scorpion-type submarine, for which the Indian Navy has placed orders in France.

The Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos has designed a new version of the supersonic cruise missile of the same name that can be launched from submarines.The BrahMos missile has a flight range of up to 290 kilometres and is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kilograms. The missile can cruise at a maximum speed of 2.8 Mach.

I don't know but suspect they are Russian produced weapon types so they will be useful to the Afghan forces, but will be paid for by India so that when they receive the weapons perhaps India will have some say in who gets what.

Perhaps it is to give India a way of showing Afghanistan that they don't have to rely on Pakistan, or as a counter to Pakistani influence...

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

The Indian financing for Afghanistan will largely focus on artillery guns, air support in the form of choppers and even armoured vehicles, including tanks, the Indian Express added

Afghanistan had asked India to supply some weapons immediately .

So what the leadership in New Delhi did is they contacted the Rosoboronexport Delhi office and asked them to supply the weapons that the Afghans need and bill it to New Delhi .

This will help in two ways . First , the Afghans have already been using Soviet military hardware for over 35 years, so they will need little or no training in using them . Moscow & New Delhi are building an MRO facility in Afghanistan . So whenever needed the hardware exported by Rosoboronexport can always be overhauled at this facility .

Second , the defense industry in India is still in it's infancy . They cannot even meet the requirements of the Indian armed forces so to expect them to export to Afghanistan is a bridge too far . Private defense contractors in India are not allowed to export weapons . Also , Afghan soldiers would have to be trained to use military hardware designed in India like the HAL Rudra for example . Maybe in the long run India will export to Afghanistan but as of now purchasing weapons from Rosoboronexport on behalf of Afghanistan is the best possible thing that New Delhi can do .